toxic tomatoes and other nasties

March 3, 2011

In a recent article, seven experts in the fields of both food and the environment (scientists, doctors and farmers) were asked just one simple question: “What foods do you avoid?” Their responses had nothing to do with calories or nutrient-density, but all to do with their insider knowledge on how certain seemingly “healthy” foods that they closely work with are produced and packaged. The findings are scary.

If the farmer who grows the food won’t eat it himself, then I won’t touch it either.

Here’s a summary of the findings. You can add these seven to your ‘Foods to Avoid‘ list:

Canned Tomatoes – An endocrinologist and expert on the topic of the synthetic oestrogen bisphenol-A (BCA), linked to heart disease and infertility, won’t go near canned tomatoes. Tin cans are lined with a resin containing BCA which is especially a problem with canning tomatoes, as the acid in tomato breaks this down in dangerous amounts. This is a serious health concern for everyone who loves a Spag Bol, especially children. My advice: if you still want the convenience of stored, ready-to-cook tomatoes, opt for sauces and passata in glass bottles.

Conventional Beef - For fat cows (and fat people) feed them grain, corn and soy. This is what farmers do to increase profits. The end product is meat that is nutritionally inferior. Cows were meant to eat grass. Studies show that grass-fed beef (compared to corn-fed) is higher in important vitamins, minerals and the heart-healthy, anti-inflammatory fats. Then there’s also the issue of all the antibiotics used on those inappropriately-fed, sick cows… My advice: Look for “grass-fed” or “pasture-fed” organic beef from strong healthy beasts.

Conventional Potatoes: More than any other vegetable, non-organic potatoes are heavily sprayed with herbicides, pesticides and fungicides throughout every stage of their growth, harvesting and storage. So much so that potato growers never eat the potatoes they sell and grow their own separate plots without all the chemicals. My advice: Organic or Bio-dynamic spuds only.

Farmed Salmon: In Australia, the only fresh Salmon we have access to is farmed; all farmed, this includes “Atlantic” Salmon. These fish are crammed in pens and fed all manner of junk from soy protein and hydrolysed chicken, corn, pigments and supplemental fish oil to try to mimic the omega 3 levels and red flesh colour of their up-stream-swimming, krill-eating, wild Canadian cousins. And then there’s the ‘necessary’ antibiotics. My advice: For fresh fish, choose small, wild and local varieties wherever available.

Conventional Milk: Dairy cows today are fed growth hormones to maximise milk production. Not only does this make for a potentially breast/prostate/colon cancer milk shake, but it also leads to increased incidence of udder infection for the poor cow, leading to pus in the milk (yes, pus in your Rev). My advice: if you do tolerate and drink cows’ milk, make sure it states clearly on the label that it is produced without artificial hormones, and ideally choose organic whole milk from pasture-fed cows.

Conventional Apples: There’s no coincidence that farm workers have higher rates of many cancers. Of all common fruits, apples are the most heavily and frequently doused with pesticides. Pesticide reside on conventional fruits is also linked to Parkinson’s. To limit exposure, be wary of apples especially. My advice: Organic. Or at the very least, wash and peel.

12 Responses to “toxic tomatoes and other nasties”

Dear All, luckily there are alternatives to this poor fish farmed that way. Olive Green Organics offers a range of products made with Certified Organic Trout. Yes, the fish is farmed but under Organic Standard and regulations. The fish is fed organic feed, swim in spacious cages, is given no hormones, antibiotics or any other artificial additives. The fish is canned in BPA free cans. This link will take you yo where there is more information:

Yes very true Antonio, and I highly recommend Olive Green Organics tinned Trout to anyone who hasn’t already try it. It’s truly amazing!! Tastes more like a delicately poached fillet than the rubber that most tinned fish resembles. And I envy the conditions these fish live in! Conventionally farmed and tinned fish doesn’t even remotely compare to this. Please everyone try it; my favourite is the one packed in spring water, eaten with a simple salad with avocado, maybe some capers and coriander, sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lime. Mmmmm

Ooo, we’ve been covering this in class Emma! On the topic of DDT, apparently there is still DDT residue found in the fat of animals, particularly beef, even though DDT hasn’t been used in over 30 years! Really shows how toxicity is stored in the body, compromising blood chemistry and then being passed on over the generations, and not just in animals but us too of course… Thanks for posting

I just met Emma today for the first time and what a lovely person she is. She filled my brain with insightful info on all the foods I enjoy. Thanks Emma for your great knowledge and sharing.
I have to say I love my beef and fruits and chicken and all things yummy and especially my home made Spagetti Bolognaise Sauce (tomatoes out of the can – Ouch!!). Now I gotta rethink my eating habits. Maybe Spagetti with fresh tomatoes…What a thought!!

So our meeting today was to enjoy a package of 100% Wild Canadian Sockeye Salmon (smoked)This is a top of the line product and the first time human’s come into contact with the salmon is when it is caught in the ocean (not pens). How wild is that?

Goodness gracious me … everyone must experience real, wild salmon! There’s nothing quite like it!! If you live in Sydney, David will deliver to your door. We happily inhaled a pack of his wild cold-smoked salmon the other day, and made a melt-in-your-mouth raw cerviche with lime and chilli (the fresh fish is almost too good to cook!) There is no substitute to wild salmon, for it’s perfect fatty acid profile and taste. And the colour of it; the richest deep coral – natural pigment from these cold-water fish having eaten all that DHA rich Krill; as opposed to the farmed fish which mature to be pale, and are then dyed synthetically.
Very exciting that this is finally available to us in Australia!

I just discovered this now, and I thought I should share the information. The BPA (Bisphenol A) found in cans (canned food) is not ONLY in cans! It is actually inescapable in the modern world!

Even if you don’t buy canned food, or buy food in BPA-free cans, it is also found in some types of plastic (consider the span of how many things are made from plastic, you couldn’t check everything you come into contact with or use); but it is also found (in high concentration) in thermal paper and carbonless copy paper, which would be expected to be more available for exposure than BPA bound into resin or plastic. It can be absorbed upon dry finger contact with a thermal paper receipt, and for wet or greasy fingers approximately 10 times more is transferred. Popular uses of thermal paper include receipts, event and cinema tickets, labels, and airline tickets.
…And that’s not even everything. So we actually cannot escape it, we would go mad in the process, it’s practically everywhere. Even if a person was to consider only buying foods packed in glass or boxes, it’s still a concern in other areas, but what can you do about it personally?! How can you avoid it to it’s full extent?, you cannot.

I was going to avoid canned food (cooked organic beans, only canned food I use), since I read this post by Emma, but now I know even that’s not enough…and initially I thought, it’s probably a good thing for me, because now I have to buy the beans in packets and soak, then cook them myself, which is better anyway. But now I find further information, which I can’t really do anything about.

I suppose avoiding it in food packaging is a start, it’s better than nothing.

All very true Zoi, but it’s important to try and not get overwhelmed by the inescapable toxins we’re exposed to on an everyday basis in our modern world. At least consciously lessen the particularly toxic ingestible forms, ie; by choosing fresh over canned foods more often, buying BPA-free canned foods when they are available, and at the supermarket, opt for Passata in a glass jar rather than canned tomato … to avoid the dangerously high levels of BCA’s leached by the natural acids of tomatoes. Always aim for ‘progression’ rather than ‘perfection’. Every little bit counts!